Greater New Orleans

Walter's N.O. recovery plan

Well, there are so many plans out there, I figured I'd spell out my own. First, if we can catch a break the next few hurricane seasons, I have no doubt New Orleans, the city, will come back strong and be the source of many future innovations which will benefit the world. What I do doubt is the fate of the 250,000 displaced citizens. The rebuilding plans don't seem to talk much, if at all, about how to help them return home. I don't think a recovery plan is complete unless it helps people recover and not just the buildings.

Why not swap land in areas which either won't or shouldn't come back, for equal value land in the Gonzales area? People building and settling there would be guaranteed a light rail system which would run alongside existing tracks between Baton Rouge and New Orleans with a terminal in Gonzales.

This would allow them to take an express train directly downtown in less than a half an hour, so they can still work in New Orleans and enjoy what they like about the city, while living on high ground. Families and communities which were splintered by Katrina could reunite in these new neighborhoods and continue their culture.

These new houses would be constructed from recycled plastic building materials and solar roof tiles created in new factories in Gonzales. In addition to the new construction there, these building materials can be floated down the river to fuel the rebuilding in New Orleans, and eventually exported worldwide creating huge economic opportunities. The rail would allow these new residents to work in either Baton Rouge or New Orleans basically creating a really Greater New Orleans.

So while all this construction and commerce is going on, the Army Corps of Engineers continues strengthening the levees, pumps and floodgates, and the oil industry, through a class action lawsuit, is forced to restore the wetlands they destroyed, which were part of the hurricane protection system, significantly contributing to Katrina's destruction. And we all live happily ever after.